Migrant adults' perceptions of schooling, learning, and education

The purpose of this study was to describe the context, activities, and beliefs of migrant adults. I studied a Hispanic migrant community in a rural area of a Southern state in order to discover how the migrancy experience frames adults' perceptions concerning schooling, learning, and education and how these perceptions, in turn, shape participation in education programs. The intent was to collect rich and descriptive data about the beliefs, practices, artifacts, and behaviors of this group of people and from this description generate the complex interactions of factors that shape migrant adults' participation in adult basic education programs.

In the study, I described the migrant community at the site using the voices of the migrant adults and community members interviewed. I used ethnographic methods of qualitative data collection because they are the most suitable to analytic description of intact cultural scenes and groups. The data collected provided a profile of Hispanic migrant workers and a description of the migrant community at the research site. The responses of the migrant adults interviewed about past schooling experiences described a lack of congruency between the home and school cultures. School was seen as a meaningless and painful place, incongruent with home lifestyle and values. Since migrant children adopt adult roles at an early age, as soon as schooling seemed no longer valid for achieving a better future, they dropped out of school. However, learning was valued and an attempt was made to return as adults to education as a means of improving employability. These first attempts to participate in adult basic education programs were not successful. The programs were not sensitive to migrant adults' educational needs and revived strong and negative recollection of schooling. An attempt to return to education was successful only when the experience became untangled from past schooling perceptions. Finding a program specially designed to meet the needs of migrant adults assisted in gaining a more positive view of schooling, learning, and education.

Based on the findings of this study, recommendations are made for holistic and transformative research and programmatic activities with migrant adults and other adult basic education populations. The type of research recommended focuses on past schooling experiences, cultural and historical background, and values and beliefs of the targeted population as a means for planning adult basic education programs that facilitate empowerment and social change.